Simply Socks Yarn Co. Blog

Poste Yarn, Highlighter Color Series

We're really having a fun time dyeing up the next color series of Poste Yarn.  There's nothing quite like neon to brighten a dull season, right?  Who cares if there's still snow on the ground when spring hits if you get to gaze at these colors?  Okay, I kind of care.  I'd really like some temerate weather.

As you may know, we typically name the Poste Yarn colors after destinations or places (fictional or actual).  For this series of four colors, I'm thinking of Vegas-type names.  Perhaps The Strip, hotels, or other names that evoke a sense of neon lights and adventure.  What kind of names would you give these striping colorways?  Help me out and I might even choose your idea! 

Silver Plume project ideas

Looking for some awesome project ideas for your limited edition Tanis Fiber Arts Silver Label Silk in the Silver Plume colorway?  Look no more!  Below are a combination of free/not free 1/2/3 skein projects.  None of the recommended patterns are for socks, as this 100% mulberry silk skein is meant for other projects. You know me, once in a while I do sell something that isn't for socks if I think it's truly special, not only does this qualify, but I'm also donating 10% of the sales to the Community Harvest Foodbank. All the photos of finished projects are courtesy of Tanis and are knit with the Silver Label yarn, obviously not the Silver Plume colorway shown here though.

Celestarium, Audrey Nicklin.  3 skein project

Gail, Jane Araujo, 1 skein project.  Pictured is Tanis' project knit in Silver Label (obviously in a different color), photo used with permission of Tanis Fiber Arts

Clapotis, Kate Gilbert.  2 skein project

Lace Ribbon Scarf, Veronik Avery

Lakeshore Shawl, Glenna C.  2 skein project

Henslowe, Beth Kling. 1 skein

Momijigari, Beth Kling.  1 skein (If you participated in the Dream Club from October 2011, then you already have a copy of this pattern, as it originally was part of that).  Same for Pleiades.

Percy Shaw, Sanne Kalkman. 1 skein project knit by Tanis in Silver Label (obviously a different color than Silver Plume).  Photo used with permission of Tanis Fiber Arts.

Sweet Dreams, Boo Knits. 1 skein project.

Sugared Violets, Rose Beck.  1 skein project.

Update on SSYC's 10th Sock Yarn Club

So the 10th SSYC Sock Yarn Club sold so quickly that I wasn't able to keep signups open for a week.  Subscriptions going this fast is a first for me, so if you did miss out on sign ups, please e-mail me at service@simplysockyarn.com.  Because this is the first time we are dyeing all the yarn in-house, I can likely add a few more spaces.

Photo used with permission of Nichole Robertson

Thank you for your interest in this club!  I, too, am quite excited about the theme and the fact that it's the first Poste Yarn club.  I'd like to accomodate as many of you as possible, so if you didn't sign up for the club and want to waitlist, please do e-mail service@simplysockyarn.com.

On another note, it's yet another snowy mess here in NE Indiana.  Late March and we get a snowstorm?  Whatever.  My kids also have fevers of 102, so my Monday is like being stuck in a snowy, sickly prison.  Please tell me yours is better!  I keep looking through Nichole's photography and imagining that I'm sipping espresso in a cafe in temperate Paris, instead of a laptop in my basement while I hear Joe above wrangling the boys for breakfast (school was cancelled, so he's thankfully home in the feverish prison too).  Take a look at this, and this and THIS and tell me that you wouldn't want to join me at a table with espresso and our knitting?

Also, the Silver Plume colorway is now available!  This is a reproduction of the color that was dyed for our Valentine Kit a few years ago, though on a 100% silk base.  It's an amazing skein, and I'm donating 10% of the sales to the Community Harvest Foodbank.  The SSYC Silent Auction to benefit the foodbank is coming up in a few weeks, but even if you can't make it in person, you can still particpate in helping with this skein.

Friday picture post

Poste Yarn's First Sock Yarn Club

Edited to ad a few days later: This club sold out within a few days, so please e-mail service@simplysockyarn.com if you'd like to waitlist.  Thank you!

It's time for Simply Socks Yarn Company's 10th Sock Yarn Club and for this round we're focusing on our own exclusive Poste Yarn line which we dye in our restored post office dye studio!  There are many "firsts" in this club, so it's really special and dear to my heart.  Read on to learn more, and then you can go here to subscribe to this three month yarn club.

(photos used with permission of Nichole Robertson of The Paris Print Shop)

Each of our sock yarn clubs have a theme, and for this one I've chosen one of my favorite photographers, Nichole Robertson, author of the book Paris in Color.  Her Paris Color Project "celebrates the city’s intimate details often overshadowed by iconic landmarks, and offers candid glimpses of the thoughtful craftsmanship, pedestrian pleasures and gracefully worn textures that cumulatively capture the unmistakable charm of Paris."  Nichole's work has been featured by Martha Stewart, Real Simple, The New York Times and HGTV.

Each of the three Poste Yarn selections you receive over the course of three months will be inspired by one of Nichole's postcard color collections.  Aren't these just beautiful?  I have this set in my kitchen, and it makes the most eye-catching wall.  I'm inspired by Nichole's work every day, and it's not a reach to see the similarities between her muse and fiber- the layering of texture and color that she sees in the Paris cityscape can also be applied to squishy little skeins.  As every knitter and crocheter knows, the combination of texture, color and pattern is what keeps us coming back again and again.

For the 9 previous SSYC Sock Yarn Clubs, the focus was on yarn- nothing else included in the monthly subscription.  But for this, the 10th SSYC Club, and the first ever Poste Yarn club, I've also had a Paris-inspired project bag designed so you can tote around your projects and coordinate wonderfully.  You'll receive your box bag with your first month's shipment in early May.

Another first for the club?  This is the first time we'll be offering non-striping Poste Yarn.  One selection will be a striping yarn in our popular corriedale wool/nylon base, one selection will be a semi solid, and one selection will be a dappled, variegated skein.  Three different dyeing methods, with three different fabulous yarn bases that will be great for socks or other one-skein projects.

Each month, you'll also receive four coordinating Paris postcards that inspired your Poste Yarn.  These 12 postcards can be framed (like I did in my kitchen) sent in the mail to a friend.... or wouldn't it be adorable to knit up a gift in one of the monthly selections and then write a nice note on a coordinating postcard to the person you are gifting it to? 

As usual, I'll try to keep the club sign ups open for a week or two.  You order and pay now to hold your subscription, and the club automatically ships in May, June and July. This allows us 6 weeks time to start dyeing your yarn and have your bags made.  The price of the club includes three skeins of yarn, three sets of 4 postcards (totalling 12 cards),  a hand made zippered project bag, and several free pattern ideas for each selection.  And, yes, you can order more than one subscription if you want more for yourself, or perhaps one for a gift too.

And finally, as a THANK YOU for your support and allowing us to bring you ten Sock Clubs over the years, I'm covering half of the shipping of your monthly selections.  The cost of the $132 subscription includes your half of the shipping, and I'm covering the rest myself.

Now I just have to try and keep all the skeins we're dyeing a secret til you receive yours each month!  This is hard for me, because I love to share awesome things with you all.... but the above photos will be your only hint of what's to come!

Helping the foodbank from afar

Like you may already know, Simply Socks Yarn Company is hosting a Silent Auction on April 13 to benefit the Community Harvest Foodbank.  Many of our awesome dyers and crafts people have donated wonderful items for local shoppers to bid on, and the entire proceeds will go to support the Community Harvest Foodbank in their mission of feeding the hungry.  Many of you have expressed interest in being a part of the effort from your part of the world, and I have a way you can do that!

Tanis has dyed up for us the same limited edition Silver Plume color that she designed for us for Valentine's Day two years ago, but on her 100% mulberry silk Tanis Fiber Arts Silver Label.  OMG, you need to squish this yarn in your hands and then knit it into something completely awesome.  It's amazing stuff.  So I asked Tanis to dye up one batch of this special color on this decadent skein, and I'm soooo appreciative she and Chris made time to do this, because she's due with her first baby in just a few short weeks. 

Want to grab yourself a skein?  I'll have it on the website in the near future, so stay tuned to the blog or Facebook to see exactly when.  I'm donating 10% of each skein sold to the Community Harvest Foodbank, so it's a way that everyone can help them in their mission, even from afar.

Here's a shot from the store today.  Freezing cold and windy, but hot and bright colors in here!

Knitter's Pride Karbonz Knitting Needles

A knitter's array of needles can be compared to a golfer's clubs or a woodworker's tools.  Having the right tool for the job makes the experience not only easier and quicker, but a heck-of-a-lot more enjoyable.  That's why most knitters have an arsenal of needles at hand- we want to have the right needle for the project.  Size isn't the only important consideration, but material can be vital.  Mohair might not he an enjoyable knit with bamboo- it might not slip off the needles nicely, but use a nice aluminum needle and you have the right fit.  It could be the opposite for lace- you might want to use bamboo or a needle coated in brass to increase friction so those large stitches don't just slip right off the needle.

That's why it's exciting when a new type of knitting needle is introduced.  With the new Karbonz, Knitter's Pride did their research and kept up with a trend, but tweaked it a bit and added a nickle-plated brass tip that is more comfortable on the fingers (not too pointy).  I have for you every size of Karbonz 6" DPs and Karbonz 8" DPs, made from sizes US 000 to US 4.

A couple weeks ago, I gave a try to these carbon fiber composite needles and I really enjoyed how weightless they are. I found the warmth of the needles to be a welcome change, as I usually knit with metal needles and forgot how nice it is to knit with a needle that isn't cold to the touch in the middle of winter.  And I'll admit that I was hesitant about the tips being a different material than the rest of the needle, but while I could tell there was a change where the needles went from carbon fiber to metal, it was similar to the same feeling you'd notice anytime you're knitting with a circular needle and the metal needle meets the plastic cable.  There was no snagging or annoying jump.

What I also like about these needles is the price - similar needles made of the same material cost considerably more.  So this is a great way to try something fun and new, and not break the bank.  Give them a try!

If you'd like to read a thorough review of these needles, take a gander at what Clara Parkes of Knitters Review thought.

Opal's New Collection

Isn't this a great color collection?  I think I'd enjoy knitting every one of these.  And coming up very soon is a new Opal Collection.  Cool, eh?  I'll let you know as soon as it arrives.

Cascade Heritage & Lorna's Laces

The boxes of yarn just keep coming!  Obviously, that's typical of a thriving yarn store, but I swear we seem to have gotten two to three times more yarn that usual over the past month.  Right now, we have nearly every color of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Multi, Nearly Solid and Stripe.  We also have a huge amount of Solemate and Sportmate.  Shown above is Solemate in Jeans.  That's part of our wall-o'-Lorna's-Laces.  Yummo.

For those of you who love a great deal and a reliable yarn (hey, who doesn't??) I now have Heritage by Cascade Yarns, shown above and below.  You'll find every color, weight and fiber available of Heritage (there are still a few more trickling in).  This includes Heritage Solids, Heritage Paints, Heritage Quatro (each ply is a different color), Heritage Silk, Heritage Silk Paints, and the 150-sport weight (this one isn't on the website yet- will likely be another day).  I'm super excited about this line because Cascade Yarns recently lowered the price, making a 100g skein of the Heritage Solids just $11 a skein.  Seriously.

Heritage Silk (and Paints) is a unique machine wash AND machine dry superwash merino and silk combo.  This is perfect for dressier socks, for special baby garments, or even adult garments and shawls that you want to hold up to wear while also having that delicious sheen and drape of silk. I get many questions about what would be great for men's dress socks, and I think this like will be great in addition to the Shibui Staccato I already carry.

Finally, if you missed out on the St. Patty's Day kit, we've sent out all the orders and found we have a handful left after considering accidental duplicate orders and such.  So if you want one, now's your chance to snag one.  Or two.  James loves his rainbow socks that I made from the yarn in the kit.  Though if you don't want rainbow socks, you can just use the two striping skeins separately to make two completely different pairs of socks.

Room to grow

Building more shelves, making room to grow. Expect to see Heritage Sock (all weights and fibers and colors) in a few days!

Recent photos

I've enjoyed taking photos of the shop recently and sharing them on the SSYC Facebook page.  If you don't see that feed, simply click this link and "Like" our page to see new pictures and updates in your Facebook feed.  Or simply visit the page every once in awhile to see what I may have post.

Here's shop-manager-Heather, unpacking a huge amount of yarn earlier this week. 

This is Cascade Heritage in every single weight and color (including their Heritage Silk, a great option for dressier socks), a new addition to the shop. I'm really pleased to be adding this to our offerings. Nearly 200 different new weights/colors, starting as low as $11 per 100g skein. Seriously, $11. Cascade Yarns recently lowered the price on this popular yarn, so I thought it was the perfect time to offer it. Expect to see this on the website in a week.

This is the entire front part of the store, as seen from the front door.  Five tons of sock yarn spread over 3500 square feet.  The door at the back leads to the two-story area where we create Poste Yarn.  Click on the picture to get a better view.

Did any of you get snow dropped on your area this week?  We did, but since our walls are covered with yarn, we came back to a warm and inviting store. It kept us from packing up and getting out the St. Patty's Day kits as quickly as we wanted to, as we stayed in our homes on Wednesday. But as of yesterday they are all on their way to their new homes.  If you missed out on this kit, there may be a few leftover and I'll post about that in the next e-newsletter.  Or e-mail service@simplysockyarn.com if you are hoping for possible waitlist.

I hope you have a great weekend!  This weekend, Joe and I will be celebrating a big anniversary. Henry now has A TOOTH and is CRAWLING,  so nothing is safe in our house- including my yarn.  I'm going to have to do some sort of baby proofing this weekend.  Five-year-old James often gets this look of alarm, realizing that his Legos are no longer safe.  I'll also be spending some time finalizing the first ever Poste Yarn club, and I hope to share the secrets with you next week.

Times are a changin'

Above, a picture of Henry taken a few days ago.  Below, a picture of James taken five years ago.  Times may have changed, but it's almost like reliving the same moments over again.  People keep telling me to enjoy these days because they pass so quickly- that in 40 years I'll want to go back and relive these moments and days.  I kind of feel like I'm doing that now.  I look at Henry, and see a nearly identical version of his brother.  As I nurse him, I look at the same shape of eyes that I looked into five years ago.  As I feed him a bit of a new food, I see the furrowed brow that I remember from before.  It's uncanny.

The past month has gotten considerably easier in our home.  Life is so much more managable now that I'm not Henry's only source of food.  I get out of the house for work without leaving within a few hours, I have even been away at bedtime more than once and the world didn't collapse around Joe.  And James now has his own miniature to snuggle with while watching 'toons.

Henry is crawling now, and while he might look like James, his temperment is more adventurous.  While James was easily distracted if he started crawling toward something he shouldn't have, Henry knows what he wants and will go after it over and over.  He seems to be very attracted to computer cords, board game pieces and yarn.  With James, we never even put up any baby gates, but with this one I think that's something we might have to invest in.  Or at least quicker reflexes.

SSYC's First St. Patty's Day Kit!

I'm happy to share that Simply Socks Yarn Company's first ever St. Patty's Day kit is now available!  This kit is sure to brighten up your dull winter landscape with the artfully dyed Yellow Brick Road and Emerald City striping Poste Yarn skeins.  Separately, the skeins knit up as red-orange-yellow and emerald-red/violet-purple.  But when knit one after the other, they create what I've called my Somewhere Over the Rainbow socks (a little tribute to Oz, if you will).  And since you're getting two FULL SIZED skeins in this kit (another first for a SSYC kit), you can knit two pairs of rainbow socks, or perhaps a diagonal scarf like this or this, or these simple mitts, or a thin diagonal scarf AND a matching pair of socks.  From the amount of single-skein Poste Yarn diagonal scarves I've seen just come in the store over the past few months, I have a feeling that many of you will be doing this with your skeins.

To accompany the skeins, I've chosen a light lemongrass scented Lavishea Lotion Bar.  I've been using one for weeks now, and by simply running the bar over my hands, I get a light layer of moisuritzing shea butter and soy protecting my hands.  The bar leaves protection that isn't greasy or thick enough to get on my knitting or all over my keyboard.  I have one sitting in the store for me to use after I wash my hands, and I'm going to keep one in the glove compartment of my car too.

To make it easy and stylish to tote your project, you'll find a perfectly sized Flip & Tumble bag.  Shown above, it's the springy green.  When not in use, it folds into a 2.5" circle, so you can easily tuck it in your purse (of if you're like me, the diaper bag) so you don't have to use a plastic bag when picking up a few items from the store.  Very cute, and very convenient.

The questions I get most often about kits are (1) Will the kit yarn be available separately?  Usually, no.  But becuase this is yarn we dye in our own studio, we will likely eventually offer the skeins separately.  I don't have a firm timeline for this because we have a busy dye schedule coming up (including our first ever Poste Yarn CLUB!!- more details soon). Perhaps later in the year we will find the time to dye Yellow Brick Road and Emerald City again.  I think I will let Heather, Rachel and Angela recover from Rainbow Fever before winding/dyeing/tagging/fondling more of these colors. It's been a big undertaking to create this many skeins in addition to the busy day-to-day of a yarn store. (2) I want this kit but the link doesn't work!  Why doesn't my link work?  We have a finite amount of kits, and once they sell out, they are gone and the link will show "no product found".  While I'd love to have enough to go around, nearly every part of the kit is hand made, and so there are only so many hundreds of these we can put together.  I really, really, REALLY appreciate how well-received the SSYC Sock Kits are, and I'll continue to do my best to come up with fun collections to celebrate holidays and events, but there will never be a thousand.  It's just not possible.  Please don't hesitate to purchase one if you really want it, and if you miss out you can e-mail service@simplysockyarn.com for possible waitlist if someone else cancels.

I really hope you enjoy your kit and if you already have pattern ideas in mind, please leave them in the comments section for others to enjoy.  You all usually have such inspired ideas for how to use the yarn you find at SSYC- many minds are better than one!